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Red Devil Cichlids,
white fish on the left named Arnold, orange fish on the right Esmerelda
Last summer when going
to the local pet store to buy food for the foster dogs my family is housing,
I went for my usual browse around the whole store looking at all the animals.
When looking at all the fish tanks, two fish caught my eye. There they were,
Arnold and Esmerelda, the South American exotic fish that would soon make a
divot into my bank account and take up hours upon hours of my free time
during the week to care for. I have never been a fish loving person in the
past and thought as harboring fish as pets even to be cruel. I know it’s
weird to say but I had to have these fish. A week after reading article after
article about the upkeep and care for the tank, what to do to get the fish
acclimated, and everything I needed to know to properly take care of these
fish, I bought the tank and made the commitment.
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Supplies used to clean the fish tank (gravel
vacuum, gloves, filters, scrubbing brush, net)
Buying
all the supplies to set up the tank and getting the water to a balanced pH
level, nitrogen level and temperature took a week. High maintenance fish, yes,
I know, but if I had not waited the fish could have immediately died and I
would have been out four hundred and fifty dollars. You read that right, I
payed almost half a grand for two fish and their home. The supplies that you
need that are the absolute minimum are an extendable scrubbing brush, algae
correcting fluid, filters, a gravel vacuum, an unused toothbrush to scrub any
habitats large rocks, decorations, plants if they are fake, and to clean the
outside of the tank very diluted vinegar to keep the glass clean. Every item
that I have listed will be used once a week and totally cleaning the whole
tank takes around two hours to prevent mold and algae growing out of control.
This could lead to death for the animal, tank environments are very
temperamental.
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Research being done on general knowledge of
the species and for diagnosis of ailments
Research
is top priority when it comes to a sick fish, but it is completely normal for
a fish when first introduced to the new tank to get a disease that is called
“Ick” for short, and can be compared to the common cold in humans if handled
correctly. The fish that I have are not native to this continent, so asking
the pet store for advice was a bit of a flop. So, I did what most people do
these days, I googled what was happening to my fish and why they were
behaving weird. Little did I know I would be stumbling upon a whole new
community that I never thought I would be a part of. You would be surprised
that there is actually a fish community where people own fish and consider it
a hobby of all things. So many people have helped me keep my fish alive just
by describing their past problems and how they handled it themselves. Blogs
have saved my fishes lives more than I can count so research is definitely a
must when you have an exotic animal. Not only are they useful in critical
situations but also a lot of the blogs or websites just have general
suggestions to better the fish’s environment, or preferred diets that a
specific species has.
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Medicine, food and tank environment
tools
If and
when the fish does get sick, which I can guarantee will happen within the
first couple of months you have the fish, there are so many options on what
you can do to get them back to optimal health. Trust me I know. Knowing where
these supplies are nearest to you is essential, majority of fish ailments
need to be treated within forty-eight hours of them contracting the disease.
Surprisingly Walmart has a wide variety of fish medicine which I never
thought would be the case. Aloe, the right pellet food or live food if you
are one of those people such as worms or crickets, and “Ick” medicine is
always good to have. Making sure your fish is healthy leads to a long life
for most exotic pets, Red Devil Cichlids can live up to twenty years!
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Feed Rite Pet Supply in
Lincoln Park, MI
Shopping
for you fish also contributes to their health and environment, of course
specifics for certain species are set in place though. So, make sure you, I
bet you can guess it, RESEARCH! Live plants versus plastic, if the species is
aggressive and can have any other types of fish in the tank, what type of
structures they can have inside of the tank, and buying new filter pads every
two months is important. But to renew the medicines a trip to the store Local
stores are good for this because they have more than a general store like
Walmart is going to have.
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Pictured here is myself watching my fish!
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Having these fish has taken much time out of my day
and week but taking care of them and just looking at them when I am bored. I
always find myself when I can’t sleep I stare at them when they swim around and
I think it’s cool when they just look back at me. It’s very uncommon but Arnold
actually like to be pet after he is fed, but if I try to pet him before his
meal he will literally bite my finger off. Their species is a carnivorous
aggressive predator, so they will actually eat other fish, so I have to be careful
with them.
An argument arises, is it inhumane to keep fish in
a tank and for them not to be in the wild? Personally, I think if the owner of
the pet is conscious and takes care of them and keeps the animals in a safe and
healthy environment then it is not cruel. However, many people disagree and say
they need to be free.
